1 Palestinian killed on last Friday of Gaza protests before Nakba anniversary

May 12, 2018 12:51 P.M. (Updated: May 15, 2018 3:30 P.M.)

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- One Palestinian was killed and hundreds others were injured as Israeli forces suppressed ongoing massive “Great March of Return” demonstrations in the besieged Gaza Strip on Friday.

The Gaza Ministry of Health confirmed that Jaber Salem Abu Mustafa, 40, was killed after being injured with a live bullet in the chest in eastern Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

The ministry added that 973 Palestinians were injured with different wounds, including live ammunition and severe tear-gas inhalation. At least seven people were reported to be in critical condition.

Locals told Ma’an that a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was injured with live ammunition in his legs as he was attempting to raise the Palestinian flag at the Israeli border fence, east of Gaza City in northern Gaza.

Friday’s protests marked the final Friday protests ahead of “Nakba day” protests on May 15, when Palestinians commemorate the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” when an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes when the state of Israel was created.

According to the ministry of health in Gaza, as of Saturday, 48 Palestinian protesters had been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, and more than 9,500 had been injured.

The Great March of Return began on March 30th and for weeks has seen thousands of unarmed Palestinian civilians demonstrating for their collective right of return to their homelands in what is present-day Israel.